The Cavs Had To Play A GREAT Game To Beat Us

[Public Defender]

I wouldn't say the Cavs played a great game, but they played a darn good game that was made easier by the fact that the Blazers had no one to stop LeBron James. When I started seeing Mo Williams draining three's, I knew it was going to be an extreme long shot for Portland to win this game. I don't think this loss says anything more about the team than this: the Cavaliers, at this point in time, are a better basketball team than the Blazers.

That said, I think 90% of the Cavs' success is due to the maturation of LeBron James and the commitment of the team to playing solid, aggressive, and sometimes dirty defense. I don't think the acquisition of Szczerbiak, Delonte West, etc. really have that much to do with their current record. It's LeBron + defense. If the Blazers can improve their defense and develop the Big Young Three, in a year or two, Portland could be on Cleveland's level. They're not there now.

 

[MARIS61]

of course they also didn't have anything to bake.

a better example might have been the celtics trading al jefferson, telfair, and 2 picks for garnett and delonte west, wally, and jeff green for ray allen.

the blazers aren't going to "bake it" just for the sake of baking it. they also aren't going to trade just for the sake of trading. if they can get a deal to improve the team, it will be made. if they can't, they won't. it's as simple as that.

Whew! That's a relief.

I was afraid they were going to read these boards and trade for Heinrich.

 

[ABM]

I wouldn't say the Cavs played a great game, but they played a darn good game....

Perhaps, but their announcers....and the team itself....were going nutso after the win. Pretty impressive display of emotion for a team that leads the league.

 

[craigehlo]

For a very short time frame.

They sacrificed the future to keep LeBron happy short term.

I'd say Mo Williams is a sweet piece for the future. Delonte is solid as well.

The two other old guys can be traded when their contracts are up for younger players.

The Cavs made awesome trades that made them good now AND helped them down the line.

 

[rocketeer]

For a very short time frame.

They sacrificed the future to keep LeBron happy short term.

they didn't sacrifice anything. they were an old team with expiring contracts. they turned those into delonte west and mo williams two guys that now have longterm deals and big parts of the present and future of the team. the longterm post situation isn't settled, but they have a couple of years to work it out before it will really start to effect them.

 

[Tince]

How's that? Didn't we, like, double their free throw attempts?

ABM, I'm normally right with you, but I have to fully disagree on this one.

I hate when people point out the free throw stats to attempt who got the better end of the calls. If one team commits threes times as many fouls, but is only called for half of them, I don't care how many free throws are taken on the other end. All I care about is that the fouls committed are called, and that they call the game consistently, on both sides, for all players.

 

[hasoos]

I don't agree. The Blazers had tons of mental mistakes, top to bottom, all players and coaching staff included. The Cavs just did what an experienced team does, and took advantage of those mistakes. Hats off to them.

 

[Ghost Pepper]

Lebron has now gotten the MJ and Kobe nod. He can call fouls on the court, if he's fouled they give him two as a I'm sorry on the other end, and for as good as he is the refs are going to give him a quarter more points cause he's been given the STERN seal of approval! GREAT!!!!!

If you're that good you don't need the fucking refs making you look better. Fouls are fine and I except them, even star calls, but make believe shit where no one can figure it out just makes the NBA looked fixed and it sucks!!!!! The refs need to be fined when they blow games just like the players are when the get into a fight or T'd up and so on! There is game footage to validate their accuracy! Time for the refs to be accountable.

 

[ABM]

ABM, I'm normally right with you, but I have to fully disagree on this one..

You're the first person to disagree with me today. Oh, and it's nearly 1:30 AM here.

I understand what you're saying, though.

 

[BlazerBeav]

Steve Blake playing = Portland victory. The way Bayless and Sergio kept losing track of Williams was beyond pathetic, and our lack of timely outside shooting was killer.

Oh, and the "foul" on Oden when Lebron crashed into him while chasing after a loose ball was the worst call of the year.

 

[Pinwheel1]

How's that? Didn't we, like, double their free throw attempts?

That was not the point and the Cav announcers didn't get it either. Cleveland shot everything deep. So not much opportunity to foul. We got screwed by flops by multiple flopa. Bayless got called for another push off while James and Williams did the same thing. Roy was not fouled every time he drove to the basket, but many of the crucial ones.

The one thing that does piss me off about our boys..........get a freakin lose ball. Go after it when it is on the floor. Dive on the floor. We get like 10% of the lose balls.

 

[rocketeer]

I don't agree. The Blazers had tons of mental mistakes, top to bottom, all players and coaching staff included. The Cavs just did what an experienced team does, and took advantage of those mistakes. Hats off to them.

that is true. it also is true that the cavs got away with a lot of contact and had some bad foul calls against the blazers go in their favor as well.

 

[hasoos]

that is true. it also is true that the cavs got away with a lot of contact and had some bad foul calls against the blazers go in their favor as well.

Yea if there is one thing I really wish the league would get away from is for rewarding floppers. I am starting to lose hope that Greg will ever get to be an effective player because of how the league is calling things now. Guys getting offensive fouls called on them because the guy guarding them has an affro that flies around wildly and greatly exaggerates the contact is just flat out sickening to watch.

 

[Tince]

You're the first person to disagree with me today. Oh, and it's nearly 1:30 AM here.

I understand what you're saying, though.

 

[hasoos]

Steve Blake playing = Portland victory. The way Bayless and Sergio kept losing track of Williams was beyond pathetic, and our lack of timely outside shooting was killer.

Oh, and the "foul" on Oden when Lebron crashed into him while chasing after a loose ball was the worst call of the year.

You have to be kidding me. Like Steve Blake has been doing a good job defensivly, on anybody this year? Top it off with the fact that Williams can score on any point guard he wants pretty much, makes it more of a laugher. The best way to take Williams out of the game, would have been for Nate to actually pull his head out of his ass, and figure out that Bayless had Williams with 5 fouls with 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter, and that Bayless had got him to committ fouls the last 3 times he challenged him, and ran a play right at him and got him out of the game. That is how you stop Mo Williams. Not Steve "Pinch me i'm in the NBA" Blake.

 

[<-=*PdX*=->]

refs suck.

qft

 

[BlazerBeav]

You have to be kidding me. Like Steve Blake has been doing a good job defensivly, on anybody this year? Top it off with the fact that Williams can score on any point guard he wants pretty much, makes it more of a laugher. The best way to take Williams out of the game, would have been for Nate to actually pull his head out of his ass, and figure out that Bayless had Williams with 5 fouls with 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter, and that Bayless had got him to committ fouls the last 3 times he challenged him, and ran a play right at him and got him out of the game. That is how you stop Mo Williams. Not Steve "Pinch me i'm in the NBA" Blake.

You honestly don't think Blake would have been an improvement on the Sergio and Bayless? You think he might have managed more than their combined 5 assists in 48 minutes? Perhaps hit a three ball or two that forces Cleveland to come out on our guards? That's insane to argue.

 

[MAS RipCity]

It was simply the Cavs night tonight and not ours. You can tell just by the bounces.
Every time they missed it seemed like the bal goes out off of us or they get a timely offensive rebound and scored.
Roy missed 2 easy lay-ins, Sergio missed a 3 foot bank shot, and Roy got screwed out of a 3 pt play to end the 1st or 2nd quarter.
They were simply not missing from 3 and LeBron was locked in from the perimeter (I believe only 8 or so points were scored inside 15 feet..). That's exactly where you want him shooting too because he is no Ray Allen out there, he was just in one of his "zones". Next game he'll prolly go 7-18 from the outside. It didn't help that Mo was unconscious as well.
yes I know we shot more free throws than them, but shit, can we buy a flop? Varejo was flopping all over the damn court and it cost Oden a few fouls. And how in the hell does a point guard foul out?
Finally, please call more than one travel on Bron..he's taking a walk in the park all game long.
To end, we just are not that good. We may sneak into the playoffs, but this is a team we should have handled at home. I don't know what's up with us right now, bu its like we've hit a wall. We have a very easy month and we can't get any type of momentum going. Very frustrating.

 

[Nikolokolus]

You honestly don't think Blake would have been an improvement on the Sergio and Bayless? You think he might have managed more than their combined 5 assists in 48 minutes? Perhaps hit a three ball or two that forces Cleveland to come out on our guards? That's insane to argue.

Point guard play wasn't really the problem tonight. Williams got open because guys had to give so much attention to Lebron in a futile attempt to double him or trap him ... especially late in the game when he was playing point-forward. Bayless got called for some very ticky tack fouls, but generally stayed right with Mo, and usually had a hand up to try and bother his shot, Sergio did an OK job at times, but got burned a couple of times by going under picks early in the game. Regardless, Mo Williams is a dead eye shooter and he was smoking hot tonight.

Everybody seems intent on placing blame for the loss, instead of giving credit. It's not a fluke that the Cavs are at the top of the league -- they are legitimate win-it-all contenders, while the Blazers are still pretty damn young and have a lot of lumps to take before we can say the same.

 

[MrJayremmie]

but this is a team we should have handled at home.

They are one of the best teams in the NBA. We were not expected to win this game, and definitely not handle it.

 

[tlongII]

How about getting out on 3point shooters? The perimeter defense has been lost all season.

THIS is my biggest issue with the team so far this season. Why are they so out of position when defending threes??? It boggles my mind sometimes. I'm not sure if it's because we're giving help on players like LeBron or what, but other teams will swing the ball and we almost always have a guy or two getting stopped by a pick and leaving someone WIDE OPEN! They had better figure this out!

 

[craigehlo]

THIS is my biggest issue with the team so far this season. Why are they so out of position when defending threes??? It boggles my mind sometimes. I'm not sure if it's because we're giving help on players like LeBron or what, but other teams will swing the ball and we almost always have a guy or two getting stopped by a pick and leaving someone WIDE OPEN! They had better figure this out!

I get being burned once, but Mo Williams was on fire all night. No reason to get him get any open looks over and over again.

 

[ABM]

I get being burned once, but Mo Williams was on fire all night. No reason to get him get any open looks over and over again.

LeBron was slick. He set-up the Blazers....drawing them to him...then dishing to Mo "just" at the right time. Of course, this strategy wouldn't have been nearly effective had James not been hitting all those big-time outside shots.....with guys in his face.

James is, well, King James.

 

[craigehlo]

LeBron was slick. He set-up the Blazers....drawing them to him...then dishing to Mo "just" at the right time. Of course, this strategy wouldn't have been nearly effective had James not been hitting all those big-time outside shots.....with guys in his face.

James is, well, King James.

Mo got a lot of his shots off screens around the 3-point line. The guards went under and he stuck the shots. We got to fight through those when dudes are on fire like Mo was.

 

[ABM]

Mo got a lot of his shots off screens around the 3-point line. The guards went under and he stuck the shots. We got to fight through those when dudes are on fire like Mo was.

That's very true. With that, Bayless was inhibited by quick, sometimes ticky-tack, whistles last night. He just couldn't get it going until the latter parts of the game (of course, being planted on the bench didn't help). Even then, I wonder if he was a bit gun-shy on the defensive side of the ball.

 

[tlongII]

That's very true. With that, Bayless was inhibited by quick, sometimes ticky-tack, whistles last night. He just couldn't get it going until the latter parts of the game (of course, being planted on the bench didn't help). Even then, I wonder if he was a bit gun-shy on the defensive side of the ball.

I agree with this. Bayless does a much better job at defending the perimeter than Sergio. I think Sergio is just too weak or something. The thing that irritates me though is that this poor perimeter defense has been going on ALL SEASON! I think Nate and the staff need to raise the priority of this.

 

[roydezlaw]

Yeah Oden should have planted Varejeo on principle alone! If Crazy Hair Sissy boy is going to flop he should really have to pay for it!

I'll take that crazy haired sissy boy on my team anytime. I'd like to see our guys play as hard and with as much intensity as Varejao.

 

[alex42083]

Oh, and the "foul" on Oden when Lebron crashed into him while chasing after a loose ball was the worst call of the year.

That was a pretty BS call, and had the RG booing as loud as I could remember for quite a few minutes after that call.
Oh well. Cleveland played great, and we played well ... at times. They could very well be the best team in the NBA, especially when they get Z and Delonte back. They've got a ton of weapons.

 

[Ghost Pepper]

Varejao should have fouled out in the first half. He slapped, Greg and Joel many times and it went uncalled. He stayed in the game going over the back on our centers the whole game on rebounds. Then he's rewarded for flopping on the other end. Sorry, if I'm Nate I run a play just for Greg and make Varejao honest for the rest of the game. Foul our not Varejao needs to be planted on his ass to set a tone for the rest of the game.

The Cavs beat up on us physically cause Nate "the great defensive coach" he is, allowed his players to look whimpy out there. Run a fucking low post play for Oden and let him explode on Varejao and how about setting some hard picks so the Cavs don't think they can push us around on our court! Roy was getting assaulted. If the refs aren't calling anything for our allstar you make a point. You don't sit around like NATE does and let the tone get set for the whole game. One hard foul would have made the refs have to take notice and calm it down on both sides.

 

[mook]

Whenever LeBron is on the court it's almost like the Cavs have 6 players. He's so strong, smart, fast and versatile....what can you say? He's the best player on the planet.

Every time he took a breather, Portland would charge back from behind and get a little lead. He'd come back in and basically mash us down again. They just had to keep it a little close, and in the fourth quarter it was LeBron's game to lose.

What did I take away from this game? Not that Oden is inconsistent or that we really miss Blake or any of that. What I took away is that if we want to beat them in the Finals (where I think we'll eventually meet in the coming years) we'd better have a lot better options on defense than just Batum and Outlaw/Webster/Roy.

Batum is improving, but he's not going to do it on his own. Roy needs to save some of his energy for the offensive end. Outlaw and Webster are helpless against his strength and speed. None of our true small forwards are going to force LeBron to expend energy on defense.

The Cavs game was The Defining Argument for a consolidation trade that nets us a really high quality small forward. Without such a trade, we're fucked against LeBron and Kobe.